Merida Hates the Tub
by bubblebathgirl13
Summary: This is a story based on an illustration that I did at an art studio one day. The plot popped into my mind while I was having my own bubble bath. I love taking my Merida doll into the tubwith me and scrubbing her clean. This is my idea of what happens to Merida as she rides through the Scottish Highlands on her trusty horse Angus. Enjoy the story


Merida Hates the Tub

It was a beautiful day in Dunbroch Scotland. There was a beautiful blue sky and there were some lazily rolling clouds in the sky and a light breeze was stirring up the leaves in the trees in the forest. That morning, Merida had awoken happy and she couldn't wait to step into the open air. When Merida got out of bed, she noticed that Rufus, one of the hounds was asleep beside her bed still trying to wake up. "Morning Rufus." said Merida as she reached down to pat the old hound dog. Rufus stirred, opened his eyes and got up off of the floor his tail wagging happily. Merida took a peek at the clock. It was 9:30 sharp and she was well rested. She then took a look out of her window and listened to the birds singing in the trees. "It's a beautiful day today." said Merida to herself as she opened her curtains wider. Downstairs, Fergus and Elinor were getting breakfast ready, for they knew that Merida and the boys would soon be hungrily making their way down the stairs and into the dining room, eager to eat their morning meal. Fergus was dipping some bread into some egg and milk mixture, while Elinor had some cereal going. "You've used up the whole loaf already Fergus?" asked Elinor surprised. "I've got two loaves of bread going here Elinor, it's a lot of work to feed six hungry mouths." said Fergus with a silly grin on his face. "You're right Fergus, we should be the ones responsible to make sure that there's enough food to go around, you know how hungry our growing boys get." said Elinor with a grin. "Not only them, Merida can tuck away the food just as well as they can." said Fergus as he thought fondly of Merida with her curly red hair and her beautiful blue eyes and her free adventurous spirit. Just then, Merida came into the kitchen, her hair dishevelled from sleep. "Morning Mum, Dad." she said with a smile. "Morning sweetheart." greeted Elinor as she gave Merida a big hug. "How'd ya sleep wee lass?" asked Fergus as he gave Merida a kiss on her forehead. "Good Dad. I had a good dream that I found a treasure chest buried under some sand on a Hawaiian island." said Merida with a grin. "Was there gold in the treasure chest?" asked Elinor curiously. "Lots of it Mum, enough to make the poorest men in our village rich." said Merida with a smile. Elinor smiled fondly at Merida as she stroked her hair fondly. Just then, the timer on the stove rang and the French toast was ready. "Just in time Elinor, here come the boys." said Fergus with a chuckle. "Wee little devils they are." said Merida with a wink at her dad. "Aye." agreed Fergus as he gave Merida a fond squeeze on her shoulder. Elinor had the bowlfuls of cereal at each place setting and the boys came scurrying into the dining room like little squirrels. Merida peered down at her own cereal bowl, realizing that she was eating Raisin Bran again. She sighed heavily as she sat down into her chair. Cereal with French toast was certainly a breakfast that they had a lot. If Merida had gone and made breakfast, she would have gone and made some bacon and eggs with toast, sausages, ham, fruit salad and hash browns. If not that, she would preferably have eaten Count Chocula or Cap'n Crunch or something else like that. It was rare that they ate pancakes for breakfast, for Elinor declared that pancakes was a treat for special occasions. Pancakes was one of Merida's favorite breakfast treats. Especially the blueberry kind that were big and juicy. They were what Elinor called flapjacks. This morning though, Merida drowned her French toast with maple syrup and butter. She also took most of the strawberry and banana slices that were on the table. Fergus engaged in an arm wrestling contest with Merida to see who could get the last banana slice and well, Fergus won and took an end of banana. Merida groaned in exasperation and took the last strawberry slice that Harris had left her. Hamish and Hubert were having an arm wrestling contest over the last slice of French toast since they didn't feel like fighting this morning. Maybe the Raisin Bran was calming them down, thanks to Elinor's being strict about their nutrition. Merida meanwhile, was being her normal self as she stuffed spoonful after spoonful of cereal into her mouth without a single pause in between. "Merida, slow down lass." said Elinor evidently worried that Merida would choke on her food. "Elinor, don't be such a worry wort." said Fergus with a wave of his hand. "But I'm so hungry." said Merida with her mouth full of Raisin Bran. "A princess never stuffs her gob." said Elinor firmly. Merida sighed and continued to eat her breakfast sorrowfully. Luckily, the banana slices made her cereal much more appealing. When Merida's bowl was nearly empty, she put down her spoon and slurped up the milk much to Elinor's horror and Fergus's delight. Then, Fergus and all four of his children had a burping contest, which Merida won hands down. Fergus claimed that she should get a gold medal for such a good burp. "Just like last week you said that I should get a gold medal for archery." remarked Merida as she gave her dad a big smile. "You're the best wee darling." said Fergus as he gave Merida a fond pat on her shoulder. After breakfast, Merida went up to her room to get dressed for the day. Elinor came in to make Merida's bed and fluff up her pillows. Merida's stuffed horse was on the floor and Elinor stooped to pick it up. "Mum, I can do this myself." said Merida exasperated as she saw what Elinor was doing. "I know Merida, but sometimes it's nice to have other people do it for you." said Elinor as she gave Merida a kiss on her cheek. Merida sighed and put on her riding dress. "Where are you going today Merida?" asked Elinor curiously. "Going to ride on Angus Mum, no big deal." said Merida as she tugged on her boots and tied them neatly. She then put on her belt and took her favorite bow and arrow and put it into her belt. She then took her backpack into the kitchen and filled it with sandwiches and apples for her lunch. "Be back by sunset now." cautioned Elinor as she watched Merida go out of the door. "I will Mum, I love you." said Merida as she blew her mom a kiss as she made her way towards the stables to feed Angus his breakfast. Elinor blew a kiss back at Merida and waved good-bye as she watched her adventurous daughter go her separate way to feed Angus. From where he was washing the dishes, Fergus smiled at Merida and Elinor as she bade her daughter farewell for the day. Once at the stable, Merida fed Angus his breakfast of oats and hay. Angus ate hungrily and gulped down his water. "In a hurry to be off today, aren't we?" queried Merida as she watched Angus consume his breakfast and drink his water. For a Clydesdale horse, Angus could eat quite a lot of food. Merida then went about grooming Angus until he was a handsome looking horse. Angus whinnied with pleasure as his mane flew into the late morning breeze and he felt rather jolly as he felt a spring in his steps. Merida then hooked up the saddle onto Angus's back and she climbed onto Angus's back. "Let's go Angus." said Merida as she grabbed the reins with a quick jolt. Angus whinnied happily and broke into a joyful run as Merida's hair flew through the breeze and she laughed with pleasure. Until noon, Merida and Angus rode uneventfully through the woods practically feeling young and carefree and they were having a fun time. It had rained the night before and now, everything smelled fresh and new. The grass was still wet from the rain and there was mud almost everywhere. More than once, Angus had been galloping through mud puddles that were more than waist deep and a few times, he had had to step sideways in order not to get stuck in the mucky muck. Also, he didn't want Merida's boots to get muddy and have her track mud into the mansion that she lived in. Elinor would not have been happy if Merida would have done this. It had happened one time and Elinor had scowled angrily at Merida. Merida had sighed and taken her boots off on the mat by the door. Also, Merida had had to mop up the mud that she had tracked in since she had done the mess. Also on this day, there was a beautiful rainbow in the sky and Merida was following it happily on horseback. "Some say, that at the end of the rainbow, is a pot of gold." Elinor had told Merida once. She was determined to find that illusive pot of gold. The rainbow led both Merida and Angus to a beautiful field full of green grass still wet from the rain and some beautiful yellow daisies. There was also a bench to sit on which hadn't been touched by the rain at all. Merida then climbed down from Angus and she decided to pick some flowers for her mom. She knew that Elinor loved nothing more than to gaze longingly at a vase of beautifully colored flowers. She got a basket from her backpack and placed the flowers carefully inside of the basket, so that they wouldn't get crushed or ruined. Afterwards, Merida sat on the bench to eat her lunch. Angus meanwhile, saw this as a break to munch some beautiful green grass. Merida reached into her backpack for the canvas bag that held her apples and sandwiches and sweets, as well as a canteen filled with water. As Merida munched on her ham and Swiss cheese sandwich, she pondered about what her mom and dad might be doing at the moment at home. She even wondered how the hound dogs were doing. Elinor at the moment, was at her hotel housekeeping job and Fergus had taken the boys with him to daycare and the wee kiddies were having a whale of a time playing happily and learning new and interesting things. After Merida was done eating her lunch, she took out her flute and began to play it. Angus cocked an ear and listened to Merida play. There was nothing better that Angus loved more than Merida's flute playing. After a few jigs and reels including the famous Sky Boat Song and "Noble Maiden Fair.", Merida put her highland flute away in its case and tidied up her mess. Before long, she had gotten her backpack put together and everything was put away inside of it. It was time to be moving along. Merida then climbed back into the saddle. Before she had done this, she had spotted a flock of ducks flying through the sky. Merida grabbed her bow and aimed an arrow at one of the ducks and it came falling down to earth, as dead as a doornail. Merida had shot down a duck and she knew that it would make a great meal for supper one of these nights. She then put it into a game bag that she carried with her and put it away into her backpack. "Dad will be proud of me." thought Merida aloud as she thought about Fergus seeing the huge mallard that she had shot down that afternoon. "Come on Angus, let's go." said Merida as she took the reins in her steady young hands. Angus again broke into a run as Merida gripped the reins and he didn't stop for a moment. For a Clydesdale, Angus could surely run and he loved Merida immensely. To Merida, every time she got into her saddle, it was like an adventure waiting to happen. A short while later, Merida was riding along on Angus, enjoying herself, minding her own business, deep in thoughts about her home and family, when all of a sudden, a huge red fox came out of the forest. Out from the bushes came that terrifying fox and he ran in front of Angus's path. Angus whinnied, reared up on his hind legs and got out of control. "Whoa Angus, steady." cautioned Merida, trying to keep the wild animal under control. But it was no use. Angus was petrified of this fox. All he wanted to do was protect Merida from getting hurt from this dangerous predator. But then, Merida found herself being thrown into the air. "ANGUS!" she shrieked as she felt herself being lifted into empty space. But Angus had run off into the woods trying to find somewhere safe to hide while the fox lurked around trying to find some food. Merida kicked and flailed, hoping to catch a branch or something to hold onto until Angus would come back from hiding in the brush. But Merida was headed down…down…down…down…for a deep, soggy mud puddle that was waist deep! Smack! Merida hit the mud puddle flat on her stomach and then, she felt herself sinking into the muck. If Angus were there, he would have hauled her out. But poor Angus was nowhere in sight. Soon, Merida was underneath the mud, submerged way over her head. But thanks to Elinor for teaching her daughter how to swim, she resurfaced moments later, caked from head to toe with grimy, oozy, sticky, icky brown mud. It was as if she were made of dark chocolate. Mud was even dripping from her hair. Her hair was now very flat, the curls totally gone from it, since it was all wet with muddy water. Mud was even on her eyelashes. Even her precious bow and arrow was caked thickly with mud. Merida then coughed and spat on the ground near the mud puddle. Her mouth was full of mud and she needed to get rid of it. She sincerely hoped that her canteen of water wasn't filled with mud, because she needed to get the taste of dirt out of her mouth. Luckily, Merida's large green canteen was full to the brim with cool, clear fresh water. "Ugh, that was horrible." said Merida as she took a huge gulp of water from her canteen. She then took multiple swigs from her canteen, until her mouth was rinsed clean. Soon after, the fox disappeared and Angus came out of his hiding spot behind a tree stump. When he saw where Merida had landed, he felt bad for what he had done. "It's not your fault lad, you were scared." said Merida as she patted Angus's large hoof that was nearest to her. Angus smiled a toothy grin at Merida and watched her leave a muddy handprint on his legs. Then, Merida got a clever idea. She would make a mud sculpture. She had an idea of exactly what she would sculpt out of mud. She began to shape ears, then a head, paws and a large body. It was Mor'du himself. "Mor'du Mor'du, Mor'du Mor'du, now the time has come for all of us to slotter you." sang Merida as she sculpted eagerly. She then made a sculpture of her dad with his sword drawn, ready to slay the bear and hang his noggin on a peg and splash a dram of whiskey on his snout at every ball. "You big mangy bear, you're in big trouble for gobbling up Dad's leg." scolded Merida as she admired her muddy handy work. Using her Ipod, she took a picture of her artwork that she had created that afternoon. Next, she smashed it all to smitherines resulting in mud splashing everywhere, even on Angus's nose and mane. He whinnied with delight at Merida's antics as she got him covered with mud from head to toe. "That's what ya get for throwing me in this big muddy hole." laughed Merida as she threw handfuls of mud at the large horse that stood at the side of the large puddle. Meanwhile, back at the house, Fergus and the triplets had just gotten back from daycare and they were all having a yummy snack of Oreo cookies and milk. Even Fergus was munching on some Oreo cookies and slurping down some milk. He had a custom of eating Oreo cookies where he would twist the two cookies apart and eat them individually. The triplets followed their dad's example and ate their Oreo cookies the same way. He had also hung some artwork that the boys had done on the fridge so that everyone could see it. Even Elinor would love seeing it. It was a very nice family picture that they had done. Even Angus and the dogs were included in the picture. For supper tonight, Fergus had picked up some Kentucky Fried Chicken with tattors and coleslaw. He had also gotten drinks for everybody. For himself and Elinor, he had gotten some milk, for the boys he got some apple juice and for Merida, he got some root beer pop. Merida loved root beer, especially if it came from A&W with a Teen burger with fries. After their snack, the boys went off to play some video games in the recreation room while Fergus took a nap in the living room. Taking care of all those wee kiddies, had tired him right out. At exactly 5:00 Elinor came home from her job. "Fergus, boys, I'm home." called Elinor as she put down her purse on the kitchen counter and hung up her coat by the back door. Fergus was only waking up from his nap then and the boys were gone to play outside with the dogs. They were playing fetch and the dogs would always bring back the ball for the boys. Back in the woods, Merida was having a great time creating many things out of mud. After she created them, she immediately smashed them to pieces and made mud balls and threw them at Angus, who whinnied with pleasure. Back at home, Elinor had turned on the oven and heated up the fried chicken and tattors. "While I was on my lunch break today Fergus, I found a few things for Merida." said Elinor as she displayed many loosely fitted dresses of various colors. "They're beautiful Elinor, I love the red one, it would bring out the blue of Merida's eyes perfectly." said Fergus with a wide grin. Fergus also loved the styles of the dresses, for he knew that Merida liked dresses that hugged her figure gently and still be able to move in them freely. Soon, supper was ready. Back in the woods, Merida looked up at the sun. She knew that it would soon set and she needed to head home. "Well Angus, we ought to head home and get cleaned up. Especially you, look at how filthy you are laddie." said Merida with a fond chuckle. Angus winked at Merida and stooped down so that she could climb up onto his muddy saddle. Soon after, Merida had her muddy hands gripping the reins of her trusty horse and she was heading home from a long fun filled day in the woods. When she got to the stable, she immediately got to work scrubbing down Angus with a sponge and some soapy water. Soon after, Angus was as clean as a whistle. "There, now you're clean and proper again." smiled Merida as she brushed Angus's mane with a brush. She had also clipped his nails and cleaned his hooves thoroughly. Even his shoes shined. Next, she fed him some oats and hay and a few apples for a treat. She also refilled his water trough. Inside the house, Elinor and Fergus were setting the table for supper. In came Harris, Hubert and Hamish excitedly. They were eagerly ready to have some supper and they all ran towards the table. "Well, aren't ya lads hungry tonight." observed Elinor as she noticed how fast the boys had sat down in their chairs. "Running around sure works up an appetite Mum." smiled Harris as he gave his brothers a mischievous wink. All of a sudden, Elinor heard the heavy stamping of boots on the porch steps. Merida was home and she was stamping her boots to shake the mud off of them in order not to track mud into the house. "Sounds like our wee lass is home." said Fergus as he rose from the table to go and get the door for Merida. When Fergus went to open the door, he nearly fell backwards at the sight that met his eyes. There, plain as day, was Merida, covered from head to toe in thick brown mud. "Hi Dad, I'm home." said Merida with a big smile on her dirty face. "Lass, what happened to you? You look as if you were covered with chocolate." exclaimed Fergus with surprise. "Horsing accident Dad. There was a red fox that came out in front of Angus and he reared up and threw me headfirst into a big deep mud puddle." explained Merida as she took off her boots on the mat to prevent tracking mud into the house after having shut the door behind her. But there was only one problem with that. Merida's feet had been crusted with mud as well since the insides of her boots had gotten filled with mud as well. Even Merida's hands were crusted with thick brown mud. "I heard that mud is good for the skin." said Fergus after a few minutes of silence. "Not really, it feels really sticky." said Merida as she unsuccessfully tried to wipe her feet onto the mat, with no success. "Honey and mustard as well as mayonnaise are all sticky things that are good for the skin." said Fergus as he stroked Merida's dirty cheek lovingly. Elinor then came running. "Merida? Is that you? What on earth happened sweetheart?" she asked, her voice etched with concern. "Horse accident Mum." said Merida, trying to avoid a lengthy discussion with her mom. "Angus reared up and threw her into a deep mud puddle." said Fergus, already taking the words out of Merida's mouth. Elinor took a look at Merida, then at Fergus and then Merida again. There was a stern look on her face. According to Elinor, princesses should be clean and proper. Merida looked like a dirty urchin who had been orphaned and had nothing to eat and had been roaming the highlands for weeks on end, looking for food and shelter. There was no way that Merida would be eating supper in such a state as she was. But Fergus was already ahead of the game. Merida sighed and went to wash her hands for supper. Unfortunately, her muddy feet left a track of thick mud on the floor behind her. Elinor groaned with frustration as she vigorously scrubbed after Merida with a sponge and Mr. Clean. After getting home from work, Elinor would rather be relaxing, not cleaning up after her children's messes. Afterwards, Fergus put some paper towel on Merida's chair so that the mud wouldn't get on it. At least the whole family was together and they could enjoy their supper of KFC chicken with tattors and coleslaw. As usual, Merida gulped down her food and slurped up her root beer. Riding with Angus sure worked up a hefty appetite. Elinor glanced over at Merida with disgust. "Will she ever learn." she muttered to herself as she squeezed some ketchup onto her plate to dip the tattors into. For dessert, there was some delicious Neapolitan ice-cream, which everybody loved. After supper was over however, Merida thought that she heard something coming from the upstairs bathroom. Was she dreaming? No! Elinor was running Merida a bath. No! Merida hated baths. Even worse, she hated to soak in a tub full of bubbles and heavily scented oils. All Merida wanted was to take a relaxing shower, have the water cascade off of her head and shoulders and slide off of her slim body. But Fergus was one step ahead of Elinor. He hid two very special surprises underwater at the other end of the tub. Also, Elinor had already laid out Merida's towel and washcloth, as well as a bottle of strawberry scented Head & Shoulders shampoo and green apple scented Dove soap and orange scented Mr. Bubble bubble bath. When Merida heard the squeezing of the bubble bath bottle and the squeak of a rubber duck, she grew red with rage and flew up the stairs in an angry fit. "Uh-oh." said the triplets in nervous unison. "You're right laddies, your mum's gonna get it bad." agreed Fergus as he got up to clean up the supper dishes. All three boys got up from the table and went to watch some Indiana Jones movies in the rec room. Harris took a Red Delicious apple from the fruit bowl and munched it happily as he went to the rec room on the second floor. His brothers took each a Popsicle and munched them happily as they went to watch Indiana Jones. Fergus on the other hand, after finishing washing up the dishes, went for an after supper walk to burn off those calories from supper. Upstairs meanwhile, Elinor was filling up the tub when the bathroom door burst open with a loud bang. There, her face red with rage, stood Merida. She had heard what her mother had been doing and she wasn't too pleased about it. "Mum, I can take care of myself you know. I was going to get a shower going, but you already beat me to it and filled the tub up. Plus, you know I don't like any of this, I used to like taking baths when I was little, but I don't now and I don't like bath toys either, and furthermore, I'm not a baby!" said Merida with anger. "To me you're still my baby and I want my baby to be clean and proper." said Elinor calmly. "Ugh Mum, it's always what YOU want. It's never what I want." said Merida as she crossed her arms in an angry huff. "I've got your favorite pyjamas laid out for you and you'll feel really good afterwards Merida, trust me." said Elinor pleadingly. Merida felt her skin. It still felt sticky from all the mud that was covering her. "Well, I do feel itchy Mum, but I still don't like it." said Merida as she began to take off her clothes. Elinor made a note to herself to wash Merida's filthy clothes so that they would feel nice and clean again. "I promise to get clean, but I don't have to like it." muttered Merida to herself as she advanced towards the diamond studded bathtub full of silky soapy bubbles. On the other hand, it did smell good and that rubber duckie did look fun as it floated there all alone, begging Merida to squeeze it. Her purple and yellow towel set was already laid out and she smiled as she remembered how velvety soft they were. Heaving an angry sigh, she climbed into the tub and sat down wearily. For the moment, everything was calm and cool. Elinor was watching TV in the living room and Fergus was sitting in the recliner, reading a book. All three boys were in the rec room, their faces glued to the screen on "Raiders of the Lost Arc." And they were hypnotized. Elinor had also received Merida's bouquet of flowers and she smiled sweetly. "I'm going to bake her a nice loaf of banana bread in return." she thought as she angled the flowers to put them into a vase. Fergus meanwhile, had stored away the duck and he thought that it would make a delicious meal for supper the next evening. He had already taken the feathers off of it and he had hung it up in the cellar to dry. He was very proud of Merida for catching their supper with her bow and arrow. He would have to thank her at some point, he thought. Merida meanwhile, still feeling a hint of anger towards her mom, started splashing water everywhere. Bubbles also began to fly in all manner of directions. The more Merida splashed, the frizzier her curly red hair got. By now, there was a puddle of water on the tiled bathroom floor and bubbles were escaping from her warm bath, but Merida didn't care. If Merida had been left to do things by herself, she would have been singing in the shower while washing her troubles away and the soft warm water would be trickling down her peach-colored skin. Suddenly, Merida's left foot hit something. "What in the name of Dunbroch…" she said, as she examined what her foot hit. It was an archery bubble blower. Merida grinned and picked it up out of the water. Beside it, was a bubble wand that resembled a sword. Except, where the hilt was, Merida could unscrew it and slash bubbles everywhere while having a bubble dual. She then took the archery set in her hands and decided to play with it. Instead of arrows, bubbles would fly out and burst on the targets. "Pull all the way back to your cheek, breathe, relax, keep your eyes open and…aim!" said Merida to herself as she tried to remember her archery skills. As she watched, a flurry of bubbles exploded out of the quiver and hit the bathroom wall like magic. Merida was delighted. "Oh Dad, you think of everything, don't you." said Merida aloud to the bathroom walls as she grinned sweetly. Suddenly, the bathroom door burst open with a very loud bang. In ran Harris, in need of the toilet. For a joke, Merida aimed at him and a bubble popped on his cheek. "I'm dead." wailed Harris as he ran straight to the toilet to pee. Merida then began to laugh. "I fooled you Harris, you're not really dead lad." said Merida between chortles. "If I were hit with an arrow I'd be dead by now." said Harris as he pulled down his trousers. "Well, instead of arrows in this thing, I got bubbles to attack ya with." said Merida as she showed Harris the bubble blower that was shaped like a bow. As Harris stood in front of the toilet, he opened the window and fired a deluge of bubbles into the open air like a skilled archer. Merida gave him a big clap for his good work with the archery bubble blower. Then, Harris closed the bathroom window so that Merida wouldn't get cold. "That was supposed to be ours Merida, Dad was going to get us one of those." said Harris dejected as he gave Merida back the weapon. "The sword too?" asked Merida surprised. "The sword too." said Harris with a dejected sigh. "Don't worry lad, I'm sure that Dad can get you your own set too." said Merida with a grin. "What if he forgets again?" whined Harris as he flushed the toilet. "I'll share it with you then." said Merida, already regretting what she said to her younger brother. Harris gave her a devilish grin and gave the bubble blower another tug at the string. A torrent of bubbles landed on Merida and made her laugh even more. "I've got ya, you're dead." said Harris with a playful evil laugh. Soon after, he was gone to watch Indiana Jones with Hubert and Hamish, the door to the bathroom shutting with a loud slam behind him. Merida then sank back in the tubful of bubbles and watched fascinated as the bubbles from her bow floated lazily in the air. A few minutes later, Elinor came into the bathroom to put away some freshly cleaned linens in the linen closet. She then smiled as she checked on Merida who was happily relaxing in the tub. The bath mat had absorbed most of the water that had gotten on the floor due to Merida's angry splashing earlier. Elinor then decided to turn on the radio that was in the bathroom. She then tuned it to a station with fairy tale stories on it. There was going to be a broadcast about Merida's story that Elinor wanted to hear. She also knew that Merida would want to listen to it as well, while she had her lovely bath. The song "Touch the Sky." and "Into the Open Air." as well as "Learn Me Right." Would be featured in the broadcast and Elinor knew that "Touch the Sky." was a song that Merida often sang to keep her spirits up. Elinor then patted Merida's cheek fondly, which brought her out of her reverie. "Mum? What's going on?" she asked curiously. "There's going to be a radio broadcast on our legend." said Elinor excitedly with a big grin. "Will the songs be included?" asked Merida curiously. "Yes sweetie." said Elinor with a huge grin. Merida then told her mum to turn it up, for the show was about to begin. As Merida relaxed in the suds, she sang along with the songs to her own story. Elinor was in the master bedroom, listening to the same station, as was Fergus and the boys who were in their pyjamas since they soon had to go to bed. They were all seated on the big bed and they were listening intently to the story with pleasure. Merida then began to wash up. As she got her hair washed, she couldn't help but sing along to the station that was playing in the background. Merida then began to discover that taking a bath could be just as fun as taking a shower. She could relax and listen to the radio if she wanted and she could play with her bubble blower and wand. As for the rubber duck, she had squeezed it a few times and she had laughed as it quacked back and squirted her with water. Still, it was floating upright. Merida had discovered that the squirting mechanism was inside the duck's mouth and all you had to do to get it to squirt water at you, was to give the duck a drink of water and then squeeze it with all of your might. When Merida had the shampoo in her hair, there was bubbles flying everywhere. Soon, the mud was gone from Merida's hair and the familiar red frizzy curls could be seen. Next, she took her washcloth and began to scrub her face. When Elinor came back into the bathroom to check on Merida, she noticed that her hair and face had been scrubbed clean. Elinor then decided to take a scrub brush and gently wash Merida's back. In fact, to Merida, this felt rather nice. Afterwards, Elinor massaged Merida's shoulders and rubbed her back fondly. "Oh Mum, you're going to make me fall asleep right here, right now." said Merida with a sigh of contentment, trying to hide a huge yawn. "Well, I can't help pampering my girl." said Elinor with a grin as she gave Merida a kiss on her forehead. Next, Merida concentrated on washing her body from the neck down with a brand-new bar of green apple scented soap. "Is there anything you want me to wash in the laundry?" asked Elinor as she took the hamper into her arms. "Well, there's my new dress from last time we went shopping." said Merida without batting an eye at her mom. In fact, 90% of the dirty clothes that were in the hamper were Merida's clothes. Elinor had also put the new dresses that she had bought for Merida into the hamper along with her dirty riding dress which had gotten muddy that afternoon. "I got you some new dresses in town today while I was on my lunch break." said Elinor as she showed Merida ten brand-new dresses that she had found on sale. "Thanks Mum, you're the best." said Merida as she scrubbed herself from the bellybutton down to her toes. Elinor grinned and continued on her merry way to do the laundry. A few minutes later, Merida was all clean and she sank back into the water for another long soak. In fact, the warm water and bubbles felt so nice, that Merida didn't want to get out at the moment. Outside meanwhile, the moon had risen and the stars were twinkling merrily above the Dunbroch mansion. The boys had since gone to bed and Fergus had tucked them in lovingly after having read them a story. They had had a bath that morning soon after Merida had left for her ride with Angus and now, they were sound asleep. Back in the bathroom, Merida was sound asleep in the diamond studded bathtub. She was having beautiful dreams of traveling to new vast and distant lands. She loved adventures and she never quite knew what kind of adventures that she was going to have the next day. Downstairs, Fergus was playing an online game of chess and Elinor was baking some banana bread for Merida. She knew that Merida loved banana bread with almonds and raisins in it. So, Elinor was baking this as a message to Merida telling her that Elinor loved her dearly. She also made some cupcakes for the triplets. Fergus then came into the kitchen and made himself some baked beans on toast. "Well Fergus, who won the game?" asked Elinor interested. "Well Elinor, for once I won the game." said Fergus as he puffed out his chest with pride. After all, he had been the white team and he had defeated the black team. Elinor put down her mixer and hugged Fergus with pride. "Congratulations Fergus! I knew that one day you would win the game!" she said with a smile. "I'm the king of Dunbroch and chess." smiled Fergus at Elinor as they hugged for a long time. Then, Elinor got back to her baking and Fergus got his beans on toast together. Back in the bathroom meanwhile, Merida was beginning to stir. Her toes and knees were poking through the water, since most of the bubbles had evaporated and now there was mostly a soapy solution on the water's surface. She felt as if she had been asleep for a whole day. The real truth was, that she had only been asleep relaxing in the tub for an hour. It was now a quarter after eight in the evening and the water was starting to cool off. Most of the warmth of the water had evaporated as vapor and the bathroom was now quite steamy and there was condensation on the bathroom mirror, window and walls. Merida on the other hand, was starting to get cold. "I'd better get out of here before my fingers wrinkle up any further." she said as she pulled the plug to the drain. Next, she slowly eased herself out of the tub and wrapped herself up into her cozy towel that was very soft and velvety. As for the tub toys, she put them into the plastic container beside the tub, where the boys kept their bath toys. Then, she noticed a green container with her name written on it. She then switched her things to the green container and left them to dry. Merida then dried herself off on her purple and yellow towel and then she threw it into the hamper which Elinor had brought back upstairs while she had been asleep. "Perfect shot!" exclaimed Merida when she saw the towel go straight into the middle of the wicker laundry hamper. Next, she brushed out her hair and got it dried with her hair dryer. Soon after, she was bundled up in her blue pyjamas and she put her wet washcloth in the other sink which nobody used often. She then went downstairs to see what her parents were doing. Fergus was watching "Just For Laughs." On TV while munching on baked beans on toast and Elinor was busily baking in the kitchen. Needless to say, it smelled good in the kitchen. Merida then sat down next to her dad on the couch and watched the show with him. Most of the gags were extremely funny, causing both father and daughter to chortle with delight at every joke. During the commercial break, Fergus turned to Merida to ask her how her bath had gone. "Did you like the surprises I hid for ya wee lass?" he asked with a hint of excitement. "Dad, they were amazing!" said Merida as she enveloped her dad in a big loving hug. "I knew that you didn't particularly liked the tub, so I wanted to make it more fun for ya." said Fergus as he patted Merida's curls fondly. "You certainly did just that Dad." said Merida with a giggle as she stroked her dad's cheek, which was rough to the touch due to his stubbly beard. "Did ya hear the legend on the radio earlier?" asked Fergus with a sparkle of delight in his eyes. "I did Dad, they did an amazing job on editing the sounds." said Merida with a wide grin on her face. Suddenly, the oven in the kitchen beeped, indicating that the banana bread was baked. Elinor then took it out of the oven and placed it on a cooling rack on the window sill. "Mm, something smells good Dad, what is it?" asked Merida as she sniffed the air. "Why don't ya go into the kitchen and see for yourself." said Fergus as he turned back to the TV. Merida got up off of the couch and made her way towards the kitchen. There, in the kitchen, frosting cupcakes for the boys, was Elinor and she took no notice of Merida's entrance. She practically jumped out of her skin when she heard Merida shriek with delight at the sight of freshly baked banana bread which was cooling on the window sill. "Oh Mum, I love you!" exclaimed Merida as she joyfully wrapped her arms around Elinor's waist to give her a joyful hug. "Merida, you nearly gave me a heart attack and yes, I baked this just for you sweetheart." said Elinor as she returned the hug warmly. "Sorry Mum , I didn't mean to scare you." said Merida as she gave her mom a kiss on her cheek. As soon as the banana bread was cooled off, Merida cut herself a thick slice and slathered it with butter. She then dashed off to the living room to enjoy her snack in front of the TV. Fergus by this point, had gone upstairs to take a shower and now, Merida was enjoying a movie while eating a big slice of delicious banana bread which her mother had lovingly baked. Even the taste of almonds and raisins was soothing to her tongue. Soon after the dishes were clean, Elinor went to join her daughter in the living room. A Disney movie was on TV and apparently, it was "Brave." which Merida had wanted so badly to see. Even Elinor was glued to the screen. By the time that the movie was over, it was time for bed. This time though, Merida actually felt tired. She had had a long day today, riding on Angus and of course, having her bath earlier and of course, the sweetness of the banana bread had made her sleepy. In fact, it had lulled her to tiredness. When Merida went to get up off of the couch, she could barely walk she was so tired. Then, she let out a large yawn. Elinor then offered to support Merida as she made her way upstairs to brush her teeth. Soon after, Elinor supported a half-awake Merida to her room where Fergus had already made the bed with freshly cleaned sheets and blanket. Merida practically fell onto the bed as she let loose another loud yawn. She then cuddled her stuffed horse as Elinor tucked her in snuggly and dimmed the lights and shut the curtains. Merida barely felt the kiss that was then bestowed on her cheeks by her parents, for she was sound asleep as soon as her head hit her soft pillows. Before long, she was sound asleep, snores loudly being heard from her bedroom as she slept. Elinor and Fergus hoped that she would have sweet dreams that night as she slept soundly in her bed. Also, Merida then decided in her mind that an occasional bath wouldn't be a bad idea. Maybe she would switch to bathing after all, since she thought about all the fun she would have with her new bubble weapons that her dad had given her. Also, Fergus had supplied the boys with the same weapons and they too, would be having bubble competitions with Merida. From then on, Merida then vowed that getting clean and proper wasn't a bad idea after all. All's well that ends well.


End file.
